My Kid Wants to Be a Recruiter. How Do I Help Them? [Reader Question]

Have a question for yourself or a friend? Feel free to share it and we’ll try to address it in a Reader Question segment!

My daughter went to school for Performance Arts and Psychology but as Covid has shut down live venues, has decided to reinvent herself as a recruiter. For those in Talent Attraction, what would you recommend as best next steps for breaking into the field? -Tammy

Hi Tammy! This is so exciting, because I’ve always hoped that at least one of our kids would follow in my footsteps into HR/recruiting. Congrats to you!

First of all, this is THE time to get into the space. There are more jobs posted than ever before, and you can find good opportunities to jump in, learn, and be great at the recruiting profession. Look at the number of jobs available right now:

It’s more than 5x higher than it was two years ago!

Now, from a practical perspective, I’ve written extensively on how to break into the profession over the years.

The best guide for that is here: How to break into human resources and recruiting

The thing about recruiting specifically is that staffing is the best and most common way of getting in, and it has been for a long time.

Why?

It’s intense (high volume, quotas, and fast paced), but it also can create a set of skills that help a recruiter stand apart from the others who just post a job and wait for applicants to show up (that isn’t happening these days!)

The people who end up succeeding in the recruiting profession often (but not always) have some of that in their background.

In addition, there are 40+ ways to learn some of the basics of HR and recruiting without paying a single dime. We have had thousands of HR pros use our recommended tools to learn and grow. A great example is our upcoming HR Summer School event (which is free) and will cover some of the most current and interesting topics in the HR and recruiting space.

Her training in performing arts can come in handy here. Learning how to:

  • Convey emotions
  • Get someone to understand your perspective
  • Pick up on their social cues
  • Put on a bit of a show

Those are all pieces of what makes a recruiter great. She has a fighting chance if she’ll go all in!

Best of luck to her!

If anyone else has suggestions, please feel free to share in the comments below!

HR Summer School: Winter Break Edition

In the last two years, I’ve had more people tell me “I never thought I would love summer school so much!” 

Truthfully, I didn’t know that I would, either! 😊

It’s that love of getting together and inspiring each other that encouraged me to set up a special one-day session for HR Summer School lovers to get together during the cold months, and in keeping with the school theme, it’s called Winter Break!

On 2/22/22, we’ll be getting together to learn, grow, and lift each other up as a profession. I hope that you’ll join us for 2.5 free recert credits and chances to win some amazing prizes and resources to make you a better and more capable HR professional. For a preview, we’ll be giving away: 

  • Copies of Julie Turney’s book Confessions of an HR Pro
  • Snazzy (and sassy) HR notebooks to show off your favorite profession
  • Signed copies of my book on using technology to make work more human
  • And more!

We have speakers already lined up to help us with: 

  • The critical link between pay and financial wellness 
  • The lesson on self care for HR that EVERYONE is getting wrong
  • Why our people need us as HR pros to be leading now more than ever

And we’re finalizing our speakers and agenda this week. 

Sign up free at the HR Summer School website!

Two Out of Three Employees Want this Talent Practice Right Now

I recently spoke for IAMHR, an event that Phenom put on, and they did a writeup of the session and some of my research. I’m reposting here because 1) it’s valuable and 2) it answers a question you are probably wondering about, which is “how in the world do we keep our people right now?” 

Quick – what’s one of the biggest retention busters in today’s tough employment market? If you said “lack of career growth and development,” you’re right on the money.

The million dollar question, though: How do you meet this demand? Weaving data and stories together, Ben Eubanks, Principal Analyst and Chief Research Officer of Lighthouse Research & Advisory, shared the top ways to champion internal mobility within the employee experience — and track and measure program success.

Watch the full session below, or read on to get the highlights!

Continue reading →

Video Interviews up 40% in 2021: New Data from HireVue

The world is more virtual, remote, distributed (did I forget any buzzwords?) than ever before. 

Our research at Lighthouse shows that video interviews, mobile assessments, and chatbots are seeing usage at higher levels than ever. Check out the graphic below from HireVue, where their data show that video interviews jumped 40% in the last year to 26 million video interviews cumulatively held on their platform. (see graphic at the end of this post for more details)

If you’re looking for ways to screen candidates, video is a great way to do it. Our data from a few years back showed that while we think candidates may not like video or assessments, the real truth isn’t as clear cut.

  • The evidence shows that candidates HATE video interviews or assessments if they are general in nature (tell me your three greatest strengths)
  • The evidence shows that candidates APPRECIATE video interviews or assessments if they have a practical, clear line of sight to the work they will do in the job (how do you create a project budget from scratch?) 

That’s a great lesson even if you’re just doing “normal” interviews in person. Make sure you’re asking questions to get to the outcomes that matter in the job. We learned this back in 2013, people. 

Creating a Vibrant Performance Process: Insights from Two Chief People Officers

“We all want to be seen, heard, and recognized.”

Abby Hamilton, Chief People Officer, LiveIntent

 

We’re Only Human — Episode 131

 

When it comes to performance processes at most companies, the expected outcomes are compliance and completion. But in this episode, Ben talks with Shane Metcalf of 15Five and Abby Hamilton of LiveIntent to understand what it takes to create not just a process, but a true culture of performance within an organization.

Shane and Abby share ideas, insights, and suggestions that every employer can leverage to create a better and more equitable performance process. 

 

Resources: 

Stop Avoiding AI and Embrace Human Experiences on We‘re Only Human

“We collect three to 4 billion talent signals in the platform. That number is so large that if you were to spread it out over each second, it’s 30 years of data. It’s a crazy large number, but machine learning can look at that and in a millisecond find the patterns that you’re looking for and apply it to what you want in a heartbeat.” 

Cliff Jurkiewicz, VP Global Strategy at Phenom

 

We’re Only Human — Episode 130

 

Join Phenom’s Industry-first AI Day at http://ai.phenom.com

 

Artificial intelligence is polarizing. It’s either going to save us all or destroy life as we know it. 

 

Okay, that’s a bit tongue in cheek, but you know what I mean. The headlines paint one picture, but users (especially in HR and recruiting) are seeing incredible value. And that includes not just admins but employees and candidates as well. Put simply, AI can create amazing, personalized experiences .

In this episode, Ben speaks with Cliff Jurkiewicz, VP of Global Strategy at Phenom, about the use of AI technology by some notable brands like Southwest Airlines to create better experiences for candidates. In addition, they dive into some of the basics of how AI works. Most importantly, though, they tease the new AI Day that Phenom is hosting on December 9th, 2021. It’s a limited seating virtual event with some BIG announcements. You won’t want to miss this if you plan on hiring or retaining employees in the coming year. 

 

Thanks for listening to We’re Only Human! Check out our show archives and/or subscribe at https://lhra.io/podcast 

Why Not Risk Hiring Someone Amazing? Featuring Peter Sursi of the FBI on We‘re Only Human

“And as I have these conversations with hiring managers and my peer executives, I often ask them things like, ‘Who is the best person that works with you that comes from a non-traditional background–would you take more of them?’

And of course the answer is always yes. You can! You can do that. And why not risk the possibility of getting somebody amazing?”

Peter Sursi, Talent Executive, Federal Bureau of Investigation

 

We’re Only Human — Episode 129

 

In today’s talent market, employers need to be willing to flex, change, and iterate. “The way we’ve always done it” was always a poor strategy, but today it could be crippling. 

In this episode of the podcast, Ben talks with Peter Sursi, a talent executive with the FBI. Peter’s belief is that employers should open up their hiring to nontraditional backgrounds. This not only supports diversity efforts, but it also helps to diversify talent pipelines and create a more rich and varied set of skills that your organization can tap into. 

Listen to Peter’s passionate plea for companies and hiring leaders, and take him up on the challenge to “risk getting someone amazing” into your next hiring funnel. 

 

Links and Show Notes

Connect with Peter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersursi/ 

This episode is a replay from our 2021 State of Hiring in Today’s Talent Market event. To hear the entire event and get 3.0 HRCI/SHRM credits, get the free replay on demand here: https://lhra.io/hire21 

Check out our new research on The Great Reprioritization: https://lhra.io/blog/data-preview-the-great-resignation-nope-its-the-great-reprioritization-new-research/Â